The invention relates to a rail-guidable conveying means for conveying, sheet-like products in a conveying direction. The invention also relates to a guide rail for guiding a conveying means comprising a guide port running in the form of a V in the conveying direction and forming a three-point support.
A rail-guidable conveying means for printed 10 products is known from Patent CH 382 768. A plurality of conveying means fixed to the rail allow printed products to be gripped, conveyed along the rail and deposited at a remote location.
The disadvantage with this known arrangement is the fact that the conveying means are spaced apart by a relatively large distance, and the printed products can thus only be conveyed with low density.
An object of the invention is to develop a rail-guidable conveying means such that the conveying means arranged on a rail make it possible to convey a high-density product stream.
This object is achieved by a rail-guidable conveying means having a guide part in the form of a V that forms a three point support. A carrying part, that functions to retain the product, is fixed to the guide part and there is a coupling part that is coupled to a drive means. The H-shaped configuration of the guide part comprising two spaced apart V-shaped sliding bodies and connected by a cross piece provide further advantageous configurations of the rail-guidable conveying means. The object is also achieved by a guide rail which has two parallel rails that form a gap and are configured to adapt to the H-shaped guide means such that the crosspiece can be mounted in the gap and each sliding body rest on opposite sides of the rails. Further advantageous configurations of the guide rail is that the distance between the gap and the inner surface is selected such that the inner surface forms a lateral directing surface for the sliding body of the guide part and the guide part is arranged on the rail such that it has an amount of play.
The object is achieved, in particular, by a rail-guidable conveying means for conveying, in particular, sheet-like products in a conveying direction, having a guide part, which runs in the form of a V in the conveying direction (F) and forms a three-point support, a carrying part, which is arranged firmly on the guide part and is intended for retaining the product, and a coupling part, which is configured such that it can be coupled to a drive means. In an advantageous embodiment, the rail-guidable conveying means has a guide part which is of H-shaped configuration in a plane normal to the conveying direction.
In contrast to the known conveying means, in which each retaining means provided for conveying a product is arranged on a separate, rail-guided carriage, the conveying means according to the invention, eliminating a carriage, has a guide part with a preferably H-shaped cross section. Configured in adaptation to the guide part, two spaced-apart rails are provided. The two interspaces of the H-shaped guide part can be introduced into the two spaced-apart rails, with the result that the guide part is mounted such that it can be displaced in a conveying direction F, which is determined by the course of the rails. The guide part does not have any wheels and, retained by the H-shaped configuration, slides in a reliably guided manner in the running direction of the rail. The guide part is of V-shaped configuration in the conveying direction, in order for a more stable sliding behavior to be imparted to the guide part and for moments which may act on the guide part to be transmitted to the rails without the risk of canting. In addition, the V-shaped configuration allows large-surface-area support of the guide part on the rail. The guide part is configured as a slider which is of, in particular, wide-legged configuration and forms a three-point support in relation to the guide rail, with the result that the slider is guided in a rotationally fixed manner on the guide rail.
One advantage of the conveying means according to the invention is that it is of very short construction in the conveying direction. For example, a multiplicity of conveying means can be lined up on a rail in contact with one another and thus closely one behind the other. Since each conveying means has a retaining device for retaining a product, for example a printed product, a very dense product stream can be conveyed by the conveying means according to the invention. This allows a high conveying density to be achieved, even at a very low conveying speed. In addition, the conveying means may be configured so as to be very small and very lightweight.
A further advantage of the conveying means according to the invention is that the drive device need not be coupled firmly to the conveying means. If he rail slopes downward, the conveying means may be driven, for example, by the gravitational force acting thereon. If the rail slopes upward, a chain comprising a plurality of conveying means in contact with one another may be formed, that conveying means which is arranged right at the back of the chain in each case being moved in the conveying direction by a drive means, and the conveying means which are located in front of the back conveying means being pushed along correspondingly. It is also possible for at least in each case one conveying means to be gripped, and conveyed along the rail, by a driven carriage which runs parallel to the rail. In an advantageous configuration, the rail-guided conveying means has a relatively large amount of play in relation to the rail, the carriage being arranged to run in relation to the rail such that a conveying means coupled firmly to the carriage is conveyed largely without contact with the rail. As long as the conveying means is coupled firmly to the carriage, the conveying means does not necessarily require a directing rail, since the conveying direction is determined by the running direction of the carriage. The rail may thus be configured with an outlet region, in order to separate the conveying means from engagement with the rail, or the rail may be configured with an inlet region, in order for the conveying means which is moved by the carriage without the use of a rail to be transferred into engagement with the rail again.
In an advantageous configuration, the guide part of the conveying means has an engagement surface which is configured for engagement with a release device in order for the latter to retain and let go of the guide part in a controllable manner.
It is possible to fasten on the carrying part of the conveying means according to the invention retaining means which may be configured in a large number of variants in order to retain and/or to convey a large number of products configured in a wide range of different ways and having a wide range of different geometrical shapes. The conveying means according to the invention is suitable, in particular, for conveying sheet-like products, for example printed products, cardboard, flat glass, frames, clothes or metal sheets.
Further embodiments and applications of the rail-guidable conveying means are disclosed in CH Patent Applications Nos 1997 2963/97 and 1997 2965/97 (Representative""s references A12207CH, A12205CH) by the same applicant, said applications being filed on the same day and having the titles xe2x80x9cFxc3x6rdereinrichtungxe2x80x9d [Conveying apparatus] and xe2x80x9cFxc3x6rdersystemxe2x80x9d [Conveying system].